I'll Title This When I'm Done
by The Quiet Samurai
Summary: Seriously, that's not the title of the book, I couldn't come up with a good one. Well, okay. Let's face it. Most of us can't write a good summary to save our lives, and we rate everything T because we're paranoid. To find out more, you're going to have to read! Things pick really start to pick up during the third chapter. :) R & R please!
1. Percy? Wow Deja Vu

**A/N**: Just so you know, I have read the first book, (don't hate me, but the first book only,) and I have the second one, but I haven't read it yet. I have seen the second movie though, but I know they'll be different considering the first one. This story takes place before the second book, but after the first. So, the second book takes place the third summer instead of the second. I am one who liked the book more than the movie. It wasn't bad, but I just liked the book more. If the movie wasn't based off a book it's be pretty good. The characters will be the same age as they are in the movie. So here are the ages: Percy- 16, Annabeth- 16, Ria- 16, Grover- 28-ish? around there, and I think that's it.

I don't think Luke will feature in the story. Unless you guys want him to come back as either another threat, or an ally. Oh, and Percy may or may not be a bit OOC because of the way he dislikes Ria, but I kind of need that for this story to work.

***By the way, can anyone catch the reference to the tv show FRIENDS in this chapter?

Disclaimer: Seriously, do we need to put this?

**Percy's POV**

Summer. It was my favourite time of the year. Why? I was finally able to go back to Camp Half-Blood. The safe haven training camp for Demigods. It was the last day of school, and I was staring at the clock. Hey, I wasn't the only one. No one was paying attention to the lesson anymore. There was five minutes left! My ADHD was kicking in. I had the worst teacher for English. He was monotone, dull, and not very interesting. Not to mention that this was my worst class. I looked back at the teacher who was unnecessarily going over the days lesson. It was the last day of school for crying out loud, why teach anymore? No one here payed any attention. I just barely did everyday. In this class my mind kept wandering back to Half-Blood. I had my first summer there last year. This would soon, in about four minutes, be my second.

I felt someone poke me in the arm. I turned to see Grover, my best friend and protector outside of Half-Blood. He made a small gesture at the clock. Whoa, five minutes gone already. Just thirty seconds left! But those thirty seconds always felt like an eternity. Then the glorious bell rang! We were free!

Grover and I made our way to my house. "Man Grover, I can't wait to start packing!" I said happily. Grover laughed. He kept up easily, even though he had to pretend to use crutches. Being a satyr was hard work. "I know, I know. Remember that we don't leave until morning though." he said. While we were walking fast, someone bumped into Grover. "Watch it man." said the guy. Nice man. "How about you watch it? I'm the one on crutches!" called Grover. He scoffed. "Some people. They just don't have respect. So. What are you gonna do when we get to camp?" he asked. I smiled.

"First, I'm gonna sleep. I remember the last time the trip was exhausting." I said, Grover laughed remembering the Minotaur. "Then I'm gonna hang out with you and Annabeth. Unless you have some protector duties to attend to." I said. Grover suddenly stopped walking. I stopped as well and looked at him. He had a worried expression on his face. "Uh, Grover?" I said. I waved a hand in front of his face.

"Uh, yeah. After we get you packed, I just remembered that we have to leave tonight. Like, right after. Gotta make one stop before leaving for camp." said Grover. We kept walking.

"And where would that stop be?" I asked.

"Baltimore."

I stared at him. Seriously? That was how far away? "Well come on man, we gotta get there!" said Grover. I sighed and kept walking.

We made it to my house in a few minutes. My mom was watching tv on the couch. "Hi mom." I said as we walked in. She got up and hugged me. "Hi sweetie. How was the last day?" she asked. I sighed. "It took _way_ too long to end." I said. She laughed and went back to watching tv. "Hi Grover." she said. I made my way to my room to start packing. "Hi Mrs. Jackson. Um, I remembered today that Percy and I have to leave tonight for Half-Blood. We have to make a stop in Baltimore before going there." explained Grover. Curious as to why we were going there in the first place, I listened in just in case it popped up. "Oh, alright. I'll pack you guys some food." said mom. The topic never popped up. I sighed silently as I finished packing. I guess I'll find out when we get there. Unless I keep pestering Grover. He'll break down eventually.

I hugged and kissed my mom goodbye, and we made are way to where Grover parked his car. Since the mortals saw him on crutches, he had to hide the car. The place he chose was the nearest abandoned ally. People left all kinds of stuff there. Grover has a car because my new step-dad Paul, decided that he should have one if he's a protector. So I guess my new step-dad is pretty okay. Especially when it came to this stuff. I threw my backpack in the trunk and got in the passengers seat. The ride took a few hours. I didn't bother with asking Grover about why we were going there. I just decided to let it be a surprise.

Sometime on the way there, I had fallen asleep. I must have been right out because I didn't wake up even when we were there. But when we were nearing New York again, I woke up to the sound of the car going over a pothole. I yawned and stretched. "Grover, what time is it?" I asked. I heard him yawn.

"Four in the morning." he said sleepily. Wait. That sounded like it was coming from the backseat. I glanced back.

I was suddenly wide awake. I looked at the person driving. It was a girl I'd never met before. "Whoa. What?" I said. I glanced back and forth from her to Grover. He yawned and fell back asleep. I grew tense. That was a nice wake up call. "Good morning." smiled the girl. She had a Spanish accent to her. She had long dark wavy hair that had a dark blue streak in it that faded to a light teal, green eyes, and tanned skin. She was wearing an orange top, jeans, and had sunglasses on her head. The girl also looked to be about my age. The girl glanced at me. "Take a picture, it will last longer." she said. I sighed and rubbed my eyes to wake up more. "My name is Ria Ula Marina Mizushima. Call me Ria though." said the girl.

I didn't really know what to say. How are you suppose to react to the fact that a total stranger was driving the car, and your best friend was sleeping in the back? "Uh huh. Okay. Um, why- why are you here?" I asked. I actually didn't know if I wanted to know that answer. She didn't answer right away though. "So what is your name?" she asked. Oh yeah. I guess I could have said that. "Uh, I'm Perseus- um, Percy. Just Percy. Uh, Jackson. Perseus- uh, _Percy_ Jackson." I said quickly. That was weird. Why did I keep saying my actual name? I didn't like that name, so I barely used it. Ria smiled. "So uh, back to my question." I said.

"Your friend Grover told me to come with you." said Ria. I know this may sound weird, but there was just something about her I didn't like. I nodded in response to her statement. "Okay. But _why_?" I asked again. Ria sighed. She seemed annoyed, but didn't say anything about it. "Okay. This- this may seem strange, but- I don't know who I am or who my family is." she smiled. "I just know my name, and that I know all of the martial arts, and can speak three languages. That's it. I don't know where I came from at all. I wandered the streets of Baltimore ever since I can remember. That is until the thing called a Fury attacked me. That's why I'm here. Grover said that we were headed towards a safe haven."

I stared ahead. The thing that surprised me most was the fact that I had apparently slept through all of it. I must have been really tired.

I didn't really know what to say. I wasn't sure why I didn't like her. I should have felt some sympathy or _something_ like that. The girl doesn't remember a thing about her past for crying out loud! But I didn't. I didn't feel anything like that. It was weird. Just, something about her irked me. "Um, I uh, I'm sorry." I said quietly. I could tell that her past was a touchy topic, so I decided to change it.

"Hey uh, do you know how to drive?" I asked. I really should have reworded that question. That one earned me a slap across the head. I could have sworn I saw Grover smile. He was awake, I knew it. "Of course doofus. What did you think Perseus, huh? That the two of us are idiots?" she said. I sighed at the fact she used my actual name. "It's Percy, and no. I just- I just wasn't sure." I said. That earned me another slap. This one was surprisingly harder. "Ow." I sighed and rubbed my head. "I thought martial arts were only suppose to be used in self defence." I said. She scoffed. "That was just barely martial arts Perseus. And besides. I was _defending_ myself against your word." Ria said. I thought I heard Grover make a noise.

"_Percy_, and I wasn't trying to say that you guys are idiots. I was just- I didn't know if you had your license or not." I said. She glanced at me oddly. "Then why didn't you say it like that Perseus? I'm driving, so I have a license. If I was not driving- like you- then I wouldn't be driving. It's common sense." said Ria. Common sense. Right. I'm sure I heard Grover hold back a snort. I sighed. "It's Percy. Just Percy. So what, I'm the idiot?" I sighed. She didn't reply. I glanced at her and stared out the window. Well, that was a nice introduction to a new day. The rest of the trip was quiet. We stopped along the way so Ria and Grover could switch seats.

Finally we made it to Camp Half-Blood. But someone was waiting for us. "Grover." I said.

"What? Just go back to sleep Percy." said Grover.

"Grover there's-"

"Minotaur!" shouted Ria. "Good morning. Again." Well, she was awake. The Minotaur saw us and got ready to charge. Grover swerved out of the way, and parked the car. "Everyone out. NOW." he said. We immediately got out. Ria had trouble though. "It's stuck! It's unlocked but it's stuck!" she shouted. Grover ran to the door and pulled on it. I brought out my pen and clicked it. It turned into Riptide, and I got ready for the beast.

"What is he doing? He's going to kill himself!" shouted Ria. Gee thanks. "Way to have faith!" I shouted. I could feel her rolling her eyes. The Minotaur made a grab for me, but I dodged it and struck at it's side. It howled angrily. Somehow I got onto it's back again. I managed to break off one of it's horns, and used that to stab it like the last time. It let out blood hurdling screams as it went down. If I didn't move, I was about to be under it! I jumped off and hit the ground hard. Grover ran up to me and helped me up. "Woo! Man, you can take care of those things like cake now! That's awesome!" he said. I nodded in response. "Thanks." I said. I grabbed my bag, and we walked towards the gate to Half-Blood.

Ria was already inside the barrier, and was surprisingly taking this really well for a first timer. I could tell that she didn't know what was happening, but she'll know soon enough.

Suddenly, once I was inside the barrier, she pinned me against the wall, and started punching me. "Ow, ow, ow! What are you-" she cut me off with a punch to the head. Ow. My head smacked against the wall. Again- ow. My vision became blurry. Uh oh. Not good. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. My mind could only think about the pain I was receiving.

"You idiot! Don't scare me like that again! That was the worst way to go about the situation! Don't you use your brain, or do you not have one? You were lucky you got out of the way before it squashed you like a bug!" she yelled. Then she surprisingly started yelling in Spanish. Luckily neither Grover or I knew the language. I don't think we would want to hear what she said. Well, apparently she didn't take all of this well. And she was taking it out on me.

"Hey, hey, hey. Easy girl. Easy. Ria- don't kill him. Save that for his enemies. Easy now. Ria, look at me, it's okay now. You're safe. We all are." said Grover. He managed to get her to stop punching me and pulled her away from me. I was quite thankful. She'd gotten me in the head a few times, and I could have passed out right then and there. I felt dizzy, and could just barely stand up. "You know she has a point. That really was the worst way to go into battle." said a familiar voice. I looked to my left, and dizzily made out the figures of Annabeth, Chiron, and Mr. D. "Anna-be-" I didn't finish her name. "Percy? Wow. Deja vu." I heard Grover say. But then I didn't hear or see anything. I blacked out.

I heard voices rush around me, but I couldn't make anything out. Was I in the infirmary? My head hurt like crazy. I opened my eyes. Bad idea. My headache got worse. I groaned and rubbed my forehead. "Good afternoon sleeping beauty." someone said. Then I heard someone else chuckle. I forced my eyes open and looked at them. "Hi guys." I said to Grover and Annabeth. I tried to sit up, but that made the pain worse. "Easy, don't move too much. You might have a concussion." said Grover. Great, what a way to start the summer off.

"What happened?" I asked. I didn't remember much. I just remembered making it to camp, and defeating the Minotaur. The other two started laughing quietly. I sighed. "What, what happened?" I asked.

"Ria beat you up for scaring her." explained Grover. I groaned.

"Turns out she has more strength than the bull men." laughed Annabeth. What? Why? How? I groaned again as my thinking made the headache worse. "What?" I said.

"Yeah, you've been out for four days. The bull knocked you out for only three last summer. Talk about deja vu." said Grover. Four days? Awe man. I'll bet that the whole camp was talking about this. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon got knocked out for four days by a newcomer. "I didn't have time to react, she pinned me against the wall and she knows martial arts." I said. Grover snorted.

"And Spanish, and Japanese." he said.

"And you scared her half to death." said Annabeth.

"Yeah, I don't think we want to know what she said." said Grover.

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, I only know a few Spanish words, and the ones I heard were swear words." she said.

I spent the rest of the day in the infirmary. Grover was right about me having a concussion. I felt like puking the whole afternoon. By nightfall I felt better, but the doctors insisted I stay for one more night just in case. That was probably a good idea.

By the next day, I was able to move around and go back to my cabin. Grover was the first to greet me at breakfast. "And he's back!" he said happily. I let out a breath after taking in the fresh air. "Yeah. I'm never getting another concussion again. Worst experience of my life." I said. Grover laughed. I wasn't very hungry, and Grover had eaten already, so we decided to skip breakfast. We met up with Annabeth in the training grounds. "Hey." she said. "Not much has happened after you got knocked out by Ria." she explained.

"She hasn't even been claimed yet. I'm curious as to who she belongs to. It's not Hermes." said Grover.

"Maybe it's Ares." said Annabeth.

Grover shook his head. "Nah, she doesn't seem to like war and battle that much. I can't blame her." he said.

I sighed. I didn't really want to talk about this. We walked along the shoreline of the lake. To my right, I saw Ria sitting under a tree drawing something. She noticed a dead flower near her. Ria touched the stem near the ground, and it magically healed itself and blossomed. I stopped walking. "Whoa, wait. What kind of power does she have? She just healed that flower by touch." I said, surprised. The other two stopped walking and looked to where I was staring. Ria smiled at the flower and went back to drawing.

"Oh yeah, I guess that's new." said Annabeth. "She can control plants, you know, like you can control water. Oh and she has sweet healing powers. Cool huh? Oh hey! Maybe she's a daughter of Apollo."

"This was discovered yesterday morning when she saved Clarisse's butt from falling off the docks and into the water. But Clarisse wasn't as joyful about it. I'm pretty sure that girl would have rather taken the water than the branches. She doesn't like being saved." laughed Grover. Annabeth laughed along with him. I didn't say anything. I returned to walking along the water. "Man, what is with you lately?" asked Grover. I sighed.

"I don't know. I just- I just don't trust her." I said. They looked at me oddly. I wouldn't blame them. I really didn't know why I didn't like her. "Why?" asked Annabeth.

"I don't know. I just don't. Know..." I said.

"There has to be some reason." said Grover. They weren't going to leave me alone until they had answers. The problem was, I didn't have any. "Look, I know you're going to keep asking question until you have answers, but I don't have any. So, can we please just, drop it?" I asked. I was getting tired of saying "I don't know" over, and over again. "There can't be an answer to everything." I said.

"Things don't happen for no reason Percy, we all know that." said Annabeth.

"Yeah, I know, but this time, maybe there isn't one." I said. I decided that I need to clear my head. I went back to my cabin to change for the water. I was lucky that I had the day off from training because I had just gotten out of the infirmary. After changing, I headed towards the docks. I dove in the water head first and swam to the bottom. Finally. I was able to clear my mind. But it didn't completely work.

Why did I dislike Ria so much? I didn't even know her! All I knew about her was what she, Grover and Annabeth told me. It was weird. Someone I'd just met never bugged me like this before. I was really confused about this. Sure, Clarisse and I weren't friends but we weren't really _enemies_ either. Not that Ria was an enemy. I mean, Clarisse and I didn't exactly start off great, but we don't _hate_ each other. I guess I didn't know if Ria hated me or not. Apparently she didn't see me in the infirmary at all, but that didn't necessarily mean she hated me. Did it? Maybe she was just working her mind around all of this.

I suddenly heard splashing above me. I looked up to see Ria sitting at the edge of the dock with her feet in the water, looking down at me. I mentally sighed and swam up. "Hi." she said quietly. I nodded and cleared my throat. There was an awkward moment of silence between us. "I'm sorry." Ria said. I looked at her. "For punching you, and knocking you out for four days. I let my fear get the best of me. I took it out on you. That wasn't right. I'm sorry, Perseus." she explained. I didn't say anything. I just nodded my head, and she smiled. She stood up, and put on her flats. She gave one last smile, and walked off to who knows where. Once she was gone, I sighed and dove back underwater.

This would be an interesting summer.

I looked up at the sound of splashing again. This time though it was... Clarisse? What did she want? With a confused look, I swam up to the surface. "Chiron has some news for you, and Annabeth and Grover were busy with other stuff, so he sent me to get you. He said to meet him at the Big House. So in other words, prepare to die Jackson." she said. I rolled my eyes at that last comment. I'm sure I haven't done anything wrong. Well, I guess I was about to find out.

After Clarisse left, I got out of the water and walked to the Big House. I braced myself for what was to come. What did I do wrong this time? Not that I've done anything wrong before... Was Mr. D just still ticked at me for beating him at cards that one time last summer? He must have been waiting for the right time to punish me or something. It was just one game, but to that guy I'm sure it's everything. That and wine which he's not aloud to have anymore. I saw Chiron and walked up to him.

"Ah Percy. Now before we get started, um, you believe that you are Poseidon's only heir." said Chiron. I gave him a weird look. "Yeah... so?" I said. I wasn't really sure where he was going with this. Did I have another prophecy to hear? "It would seem, that belief has been, held in error." said Chiron. Wait. What? Did he just say... I have a sibling? "What? I have a- there's another half-blood?" I asked.

"Not exactly. Technically Tyson is not a half-blood. Half-bloods are half-human. Hence the name." said Chiron. Now this guy just had me confused. If he wasn't half human... then what was he? "Um, then- then what um- what?" I said. Apparently my brain wasn't connected to my mouth at the moment. "Nymph. A sea nymph. And when you cross a deity with a sea nymph, you get a-" explained Chiron. As he was talking, I followed him into the Big House. I had a brother. It was weird. A brother that was a...

We walked in and found that Mr. D was trying to keep Tyson away from his wine collection. "Don't touch. it's a Gewurztraminer." said Mr. D. This guy and wine. Then Tyson turned around and smiled at us. Yup. This confirmed everything. "Hi brother." he said.

Tyson was part cyclops.

I lied before.

_Now_ this was going to be an interesting summer.

**A/N**: Yes, kinda short, but they will get longer. I hope. lol Well, how was chapter one? :)


	2. The Guy's a Stubborn Mule

**A/N**: Sorry if you're waiting on my other stories! I just decided to take a break from those and start a new one.

Note that it will switch POV's from now on.

**Community reference in here, let's see who spots it! :) It may be well "hidden." I'll let you know what it is in the next chapter. I'll give you a hint. It's one sentence. Okay... I'll give you another hint. Someone says it. What? You want another one? Mm... it's in Clarisse' POV. There. That's it. Good luck! :) *** References may be in the title, so watch for it! :)

The FRIENDS reference in the last chapter was when Percy woke up to a stranger driving the car. Anyone know the scene when Pheobe does the same and gets mad at Joey for letting a stranger in? ;)

**Clarisse's POV**

I woke up earlier than usual today. But I had my reasons. I began to train using the dummies. It was Capture the Flag day, and I was going to be ready. Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite, and everyone but Athena, Apollo and Poseidon's kids, Tyson and Prisse were on the red team. The blue team was going down this time. Who cared if we were against Athena's cabin? They didn't win last year. I guess it was thanks to Prissy, but still. I mean, come on.

Hm. Perhaps I should consider getting that Ria girl on our team. Anyone who knocks out Prissy is a friend of mine. Especially since it was for four whole days, and she even gave him a concussion. I smiled as I threw my knife straight at the dummy's heart. Oh yeah, we'll win this one for sure. If we don't get her on our team, I at least want to go up against her. Apparently she knows martial arts. Not bad. Everyone here just knows the training that we've been taught. Not martial arts.

I've noticed the way Prissy acts around Ria. It seems like she ticks him off. For reasons I don't know, but I do think it may have to do with the fact she beat him up like he was one of these dummies. I had to laugh at that. Oh yeah, I HAD to get Ria on my team. She annoys Prissy so easily! If I become friends with her it'd annoy him even more. I couldn't wait for this thing to begin! I loved capture the flag. I spun around and stabbed the dummy in the neck.

Finally it was time. We all gathered at the starting point. "I'm sure you all know the rules by now. This time however, four people will be allowed to guard the flag. Also, our newcomer, Ria, will need a team. Ria, if you please." said Chiron. It was obvious which team Tyson chose. The one that Prissy was on. Ria stepped forward. I stepped forward, but Annabeth beat me to it. "We'll take her." she said. Crap. I was gonna say that. Looks like I'm against her now. But I did get a bit of joy from the look on Prissy's face. Nobody else seemed to notice except for Grover, who nudged him. He just shook him off. Prissy caught me smirking at him, and rolled his eyes. I still couldn't figure out why he didn't like her. But whatever. It was time to focus on the game since Chiron went over the rules. Hm, it seemed that since there were two newcomers, there could be four people to guard the flag. Cool. I like a challenge. If Prissy and his friends were guarding the flag, the only people worth going up against were Annabeth and Ria.

Let the games begin! It was finally starting! Yes! My teammates and I formulated a perfect plan. We all knew where the blue flag was. It was my job to get it. I laid low during the entire time. I hid amongst some red flowers as blue team members ran by after some kids from Hermes' cabin. This row of red flowers was my best luck. They were new this year, and we used that to our advantage. Red doesn't exactly blend into green does it?

I was still a long way from the flag, but this took time. If the blue team hasn't found our flag, then it's still going on. I saw a tree with red leaves, and slowly and quietly made my way over. Being certain that no blue people were around, I quickly climbed up and hid in the leaves. Just in time too. Prissy, Annabeth, Tyson and Ria much to Prissy's pleasure, walked by, checking the perimeters. The four of them were heading towards their flag. I knew it. They were the guards. They didn't even see me, nor did they acknowledge the red tree. When the three of them were gone, I jumped down and landed silently. I quickly made my way through the woods.

I dove down and hid behind some large bushes that covered all my redness. Someone from my cabin was battling two blue people. When one blue member went down, I made my way over to a large tree and hid behind that. I wasn't seen by anyone. Man, I was like a ninja today.

Then something blue caught my attention. The flag! Wow. That was fast. I guess it wasn't in the spot we thought it was in. I checked out the location. There wasn't any water, so if Prissy was around he wouldn't be able to use that to his advantage. I smiled. Dang, there were plants all around though, duh. Ria could use _that_ to _her_ advantage. I rolled my eyes at myself for being naive. Well, not today. This was Ares` kids to be winners.

I got down low to the ground, and basically inch wormed my way over to the closest bush. There was usually a guard or two around the flag. Where would they be? I looked around. I couldn't see anyone. Damn it, where were they? Then I heard someone land on the ground behind me. Crap. I could feel that they were very close. Close enough for me to knock their feet out from under them with my own. Which I did. I stood up quickly and pulled out my spear.

It was Prissy. "You should think about who you're dealing with Prissy." I spat. I really didn't like the guy. He wasn't so fond of me either, which made it even better. He stood up, ready to battle. This would be cake. Sure, he could take down Minotaur's by himself. But I had WAY more experience here than this idiot. There was no way he was going to win this one. "Don't tell me you wanna go against me." I said, with a smirk. "So what happened to blondie and your girlfriend?" I knew that last one would tick him off.

"She's not my girlfriend." he said instantly. Yeah, that was the usual reaction any guy would give. After studying him a bit more, I noticed something he probably didn't know. I wasn't going to say anything, of course. "So why do you hate her? You seemed pretty- _upset_ with the fact she was on the same team as you." I taunted. I loved doing this to him. I don't know why, but it was fun getting him worked up. The kid gripped his sword tighter. I resisted laughing. Oh that was hard to do!

"I don't- hate her. I- I just-" he was obviously trying to think of the right words. It would be beautiful if she showed up just as he said "I don't like her." Ria had become close friends with Annabeth, so he'd have to deal with her. That wouldn't be pretty. Actually, it seemed as though a lot of people are fond of Ria. Even, dare I think it, Mr. D. He hates pretty much every camper here. He's not even that fond of Chiron. I think I'm his sworn enemy or something. Or maybe it's one of Hermes kids... Hold on, I'm off topic.

"You just what? Don't like her? Don't trust her? You- _really, really_, _really_ dislike her?" I asked. I put a lot of emphasis on the last "really." Prissy tensed up more. I twirled my spear in my hand. This was great! Hm. There seemed to be some other- feeling, perhaps, involved, but I wasn't sure what it was I saw in him. I don't even think he knew about it. But maybe I could use that to my advantage. Hey, worth a shot. I could easily tell that he wasn't concentrating on the game at the moment. Maybe he didn't even know why he didn't like her. It's possible, the guy was pretty clueless sometimes.

Prissy made an attack move, but since he was distracted, I easily dodged it. Well, technically I could have dodged it even _if_ he was focussed. As a counter attack, I tripped him up. He hit the ground pretty hard. I think I heard a crack from his right shoulder. Too bad, so sad Prissy. He wince at the sudden pain. Then I heard someone behind me. Annabeth and Ria. I smirked. "You know, I'd say Prissy here needs more training. Like, a lot more." I said, gesturing to Seaweed Brain on the ground. He was holding his shoulder. It looked like he couldn't move it. I guess it did break. He should have known better than to challenge me when he wasn't focussed. The idiot. I wanted to stab him with my electric spear, but I guess I could save it for another time.

"Well, I could use a better challenge." I said. Annabeth stepped forward. This would be cake. I've beaten her before. It was on. After about ten minutes, yeah it took that long, but I finally got her down. I stole her sword and kicked her to the ground. Now it was the challenge I've been waiting for. Ria. I turned to her as Annabeth and Tyson, who had shown up with the others, went over to Prissy. "Just so you know, I won't go easy on you just because you're new." I said. She smiled.

"I expected nothing less. So, I will do the same." she replied. Huh. The girl's quiet, but she's got guts I'll give her that much. We circled each other for a while. Both of us waiting for the other to make a move. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chiron, Grover, and the other campers watching. It's about time. Too bad they missed me take out Prissy and Annabeth. Oh well, now they got to see the real battle. Lucky them.

I lunged forward aiming my sword at hers. She dodged it and surprisingly knocked my sword out of my hands. A person must be pretty good to do that right at the beginning. Maybe she took fencing lessons or something as well as martial arts. I eyed her as she dropped her own sword making us even. She smiled as she awaited the oncoming battle.

Once again, I made the first move. Bad idea. She dodged and her martial arts skills took over instantly. Somehow I found myself being thrown onto the ground. I shot back up though. We fought like this for quite a while. I actually lost track of time. It was awesome! I've never had a challenge like this before. I think I found a new best friend. Suddenly just as I'm about to punch, she grabs hold of my arm and we're thrown up in the air. She spun us around quickly making me slightly dizzy. Then I hit the ground incredibly hard. (**A/N**: anyone see the Disney movie Wendy Wu Homecoming Warrior? Well, basically that spin thing she does with the evil dude in the final battle. Yeah. Anyway-) It knocked the wind out of me! It didn't last long though. I saw that she had landed on her feet, and I quickly took them out from under her. That surprised her and she went down. Yes! I won! I shot up as soon as she hit the ground and ran over to the flag. No one could stop me at that point. I grabbed it and lifted it up. The red team went crazy with cheers! It was so cool! We won!

I turned to see the blue teams faces. Particularly Prissy, and Annabeth's. Ria was a good sport and had a good game. Prissy and Annabeth's faces were pretty priceless! After a few minutes of this, I let the team carry the flag back to the cabin. I turned to Ria.

"Not bad. Impressive even." I said, shocking the others once more, "You mind if you taught me some moves?" I held out my hand.

Ria smiled, and took it. "I would be honoured." she said. We shook. "We will start next week. Dawn. Don't be late." I smirked.

"As if I'm ever late for training." I said.

"Can I come too?" Annabeth asked unexpectedly. I guess I should have seen it coming. I mean, she and Ria _are_ friends. "What?" I said.

"Of course." said Ria. Well. This was just great. Thanks Annabutt. Thanks a lot for stealing my thunder. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe this. Annabutt and I would be in the same building for an entire- day? Morning? Ah whatever. The point is, we would be _stuck there together_. The whole time! Ugh. Man. Way to ruin my moment.

"Oh man, think of all the people I could protect if I had those abilities! Uh, could I come too?" asked Grover. Crap. Seriously? "Sure! You would be the first Satyr to ever learn what I know!" said Ria. Crap, crap, crap! No! Why was this happening! It was just suppose to be me! "Wh-" I started, but nothing came out.

"Sweet! Oh ho, those bull men won't know what hit'em!" said Grover. Chiron chuckled as Mr. D just scoffed.

"I think if it's alright with you Ria, perhaps we could talk about starting a class?" he asked. NO! Oh come on! _Whyyyyyy?!_ I may be being childish, but nothing ever goes right for me! Why couldn't this just be the one thing that did? "I'd like to talk." said Ria. This sucked!

Soon we all found ourselves looking at Prissy expectantly. I sighed. "So what do you think Prissy, you wanna get your butt kicked in front of a class?" I said. I smirked at seeing him in this awkward position. He didn't like Ria, so of course he didn't want to take the class. Of course, he wasn't going to say that out loud in front of Ria, and not to mention Chiron, and Mr. D. Prissy struggled to get up. "Um... I _think_ I have to go to the infirmary." he said. Tyson gave him a curious look. He obviously didn't know of Prissy's dislike towards Ria. He followed Prissy out of the forest. "I'll uh, see you guys later." he said to Grover and Annabutt.

Just what I thought. Yep. He wouldn't go through with it even if _both_ his friends did. Grover and Annabutt watched him, then looked at each other questioningly. Grover shrugged. Then he strangely stared at the sky above Ria's head. Curious as to why the doofus of a protector was staring, I looked. And holy crap was it... hm. It wasn't really strange. Yet, it wasn't amazing either. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Prissy and Tyson were staring as well. I assumed that they initially were just going to glance back, but then it happened. Ria stared up in awe at what was above her.

Above her head, (on a branch that was _coincidentally_ above her,) perched a Great Horned owl. It was the first one I've seen, and it was- okay, it was awesome. They're so huge up close! Who knew? (No pun intended. Gods I hate it when that happens.) Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Prissy to see his reaction.

It was a lot like everyone else's, shock, and bewilderment. But there were a few things missing in his that was in the other's. Amazement, joy, and happiness being a big one. Wait. Aren't joy and happiness basically the same thing? Oh who cares? Anyways, the point is to put it simply- his expression was different. I assumed that for some weird Prissy reason, it made him hate her even more. I saw a bit of anger in him, the anger that I usually saw when Ria came up in conversation and whatnot. But then... then I also saw that other feeling alongside of the anger. Something I couldn't quite decipher it. It made me frustrated with myself that I couldn't figure it out.

Speaking of frustration, it also bugged me that I didn't know why I even cared. I figured maybe it was the first time I've seen the guy actually _hate_ someone they've just met. Yeah, I was probably just curious. I turned my attention back to Ria and the others.

Annabutt was gleaming with joy. She had a new sister. _I_ wanted a new sister! One that I could trust. Ria, I could trust. My other siblings? Ha! That's so funny I forgot to laugh. My day had just been ultimately ruined. Who cares if we won the stupid game? I just lost my chance at having a great sister, and private lessons. Did I mention that this sucked?

We all watched the owl as it flew off. It was strange though. We don't get many wild animals at Camp Half-Blood from the outside world. But I guess since this was a sign from Athena claiming her daughter, it was an exception. The others were giving her a "congratulations" and such. I gave her a small smile. "Well, nice one Ria. See ya in class." I said. She smiled, and nodded. We shook hands one more time. I walked off to catch up with Prissy. I just _had_ to pester him about this! Especially since his friends ruined, okay, unintentionally ruined, my joy.

Prissy and Tyson had already made it out of the forest, and was making his way across the field towards the infirmary. "Yo Prissy. Why don't you just get Ria to heal it? You know she has healing powers." I started. I could practically _feel_ Prissy's anger and annoyance. Along with Tyson's confusion. Apparently he didn't know anything about Ria. I guess the guy _did_ just get here. "Just get her to wrap some kind of plant around the-" he cut me off. Wow. He must have been really ticked off because he usually waited until I was at least finished a sentence.

"Clarisse, I don't- I'm not-" he sighed, "why are you following us? Why aren't you back with the others?" he asked. Clearly he couldn't come up with an good enough excuse, (if any,) as to why he didn't want Ria's help. But he wasn't getting away that easily. "Why do you ask?" I asked. He just looked on ahead and didn't even glance in my- oh wait, there it was. It was very, _very_ brief, and I mean like, it was only one second long; but he glanced at me. The look he had on his face was pretty much just mad, and annoyed at this point.

"Well, it looked like you and her were getting along fine." he mumbled. Her. "You and _her."_ is what he said. Not, "you and Ria." I scoffed at him. He glanced at me again, this time a bit confused. He probably thought I was scoffing at Ria. "Her. You and _her_. Dude she has a name. A simple name at that. Three letters. R-I-A. _Ria._ Come on Prissy, at least have some respect." I said, this time I was the annoyed one. Prissy closed his eyes for one second. Tyson stood back a ways and just let us argue. I'll admit it, he was cool for that. Not everyone lets me keep arguing with someone just for the heck of it. Prissy was silent for a while. "Respect. You do realize that _I_ have a name too?" he said. Seriously, he was going with that? Man this guy does not know how to deal with anger. With that thought in mind, I decided to say it out loud. Just to see what his reaction would be. My guess? More anger. Possibly some frustration, mostly directed at me, but I don't care. I don't like the guy either, so we're even. "Wow. You _really_ don't know how to deal with anger, do you?" I said. Prissy stopped walking.

"Clarisse, _why_ are you here? _Why_ are you doing this? And _why_ do you even care?!" he said loudly. It was a good thing we were in a field. No one else was around besides Tyson, who looked a bit worried. I snorted, and held back a laugh. "Have you _met_ me?" I asked, pointing at myself. He just rolled his eyes. "Look, I just wanna know why you hate someone you just met? Someone who doesn't even remember her past?" I said. Prissy sighed. Tyson gave me a shocked expression. Yeah, the guy didn't know anything.

"I don't know! Okay? I just- don't know. Just leave me alone." he said. Wow. He was rude when he got annoyed and angry. Whatever. He still wasn't getting away with "I don't know." I was going to figure it out. I'll probably figure it out before he even does. I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever Prissy. Whatever it is, I'll find out." I started to walk back to Ria and the others. I smiled. "And when I do, I won't tell you." I said. I could just picture Prissy getting even more boiled. I scoffed quietly. He's too easy. But it's fun.

**Annabeth's POV**

I watched Clarisse follow Percy and Tyson, then turned my attention back to Ria. I had a new sister! We were already friends so that was cool.

At the moment our little forest group was talking about Ria being a camp teacher. That was fast. She had only _just_ got here. Clearly she could defend herself at anytime. But she seemed to not know much about using weapons like swords or arrows. That was going to be my job. Well, technically she was going to have a few teachers. One for each weapon of choice. Mine was the sword. Her training with me would begin tomorrow. Once she mastered the sword, she would move on to arrows. Her arrow training would be with Chiron. Then after that, it would be hand to hand combat with Clarisse since the two seemed to get along. Mr. D surprisingly said that he`d teach her to use the some of the other weapons that we use. The subject then changed to who would teach her how to master her control over plants. Grover had originally volunteered, but he didn`t have any power like that, and therefore, wasn`t going to be her teacher. There was only one person that was capable of doing so.

Percy Jackson.

But, there was just one big problem.

Percy didn`t like Ria for some strange, unknown reason. It bugged me that I, the smart one, couldn`t figure it out! Ria was a joy to have around, sister or not. Ria surprised me by saying that she didn`t want him as a teacher. Did she not like him either? "Ria, but why?" I asked. The two of them had just met! How could they already not like each other? I guess I should have been thankful that they weren't bullies to each other like Clarisse is to Percy. But still, I mean come on. What gives?

"He obviously doesn't like me. Besides, he'll probably say no. I do not want someone who doesn't like me being my teacher. I know what it takes to be a great teacher. That is not a good quality." said Ria. Okay, she had a good point.

"You do have a good point Ria. However, in order for the student and teacher to bond, they must learn from each other." said Chiron. This guy was good. He always impressed me. "And in order to learn from each other, he must teach you, and you must teach him." In other words they were going to stay hating each other if they didn't know each other. It makes sense. I just hoped that the two understood that.

Ria stared at Chiron for a few seconds. Then she sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll try if he tries." she said. Chiron smiled, as did Grover and I. "But things only get worse, I blame you." she pointed at Chiron. I could tell he was holding back a chuckle. "Fair enough." he said. During their conversation, I saw that Clarisse had come back. She must have gone to bug Percy, poor guy. As if he didn't have enough problems to deal with.

"Yeah good luck with that one." I heard Clarisse mutter. For the first time in forever, I think I agreed with her. It would be challenging for those two to get along. I just hope that they will tolerate each other long enough in order for the training to be finished. After this meeting, Grover, and I went to get Percy to teach Ria how to control her powers better. Now _this_ would be the challenging part. Actually getting him to do it.

"Yo Perce!" shouted Grover. Percy stopped walking and glanced back. We had just made it to the training grounds of the camp. "Oh hey guys." said Tyson. I could tell Percy was still ticked off at Clarisse and probably Ria too, even though he didn't say anything. He's practically an open book. "So. Here's the deal. You know how Chiron wanted to start up certain classes for Ria to teach. Well, after that, he decided that we all get to train Ria in something. So like, Annabeth is teaching her how to use the sword, Clarisse is teaching hand-to-hand combat, and so on." said Grover. I was surprised that he was actually doing an okay job at leading up to the point. Since he was doing good, I decided to not join in until I was needed.

"Yeah so what's your point?" asked Percy. He clearly wasn't going to see this coming. "My point, is that Chiron wants _you_ to teach Ria how to control her plant powers better. Considering that you're really the only one capable of doing it here." said Grover. At this, Percy stopped walking.

"No." he said. Grover sighed. "Why man? Why? Why are you acting like this? Ria said she'll do it so long as you agree to it." he said. I stood back a ways and watched. I was curious as to how Grover would approach this. Percy sighed. "Look, I said no. So why can't you leave it at that? Besides, it wouldn't work. We don't like each other. I can see it. You know as well as I do that in order for it work there has to be some kind of bond." said Percy.

At some point during this argument, we had ended up by the lake. Apparently Percy had no plans of going to the infirmary. I guess it made sense since he had healing powers too. But could he really heal a broken bone?

"Percy-" however Grover was interrupted by- Poseidon? We all stared in shock as his form emerged from the water. "Whoa." Grover said in awe. There was an awkward moment of silence as no one really knew what to say. "Hi dad." Tyson said in awe.

"Hello Tyson, Percy. Oh, don't mind me. Pretend I am not here. I'll chime in after." chuckled Poseidon. This was weird. But I rolled with it. Why was he here? Was he going to help convince Percy to teach Ria? There was a pause before Grover spoke. "Right. Okay, look Percy, you have a point there. However, in order for the student and teacher to bond, they must learn from each other. And in order to learn from each other, she must teach you, and you must teach her." said Grover. I gave a small smirk, as did Poseidon. But they went unnoticed by the three.

Percy didn't say anything. He was contemplating Grover's, or uh, Chiron's, words. I could tell he wanted to say some things, but considering that Poseidon was here, it probably wasn't a good idea. "Percy." said the god. His son looked at him, unsure of what to say. "I am here to have a word with you. Take Grover's advice. Learn from her. I will arrange with Chiron to make it a private lesson. While you're teaching her, she will teach you. This is an order. I am speaking as Poseidon, the god. Not your father. You must be prepared." said Poseidon. Percy stared at him, and said nothing. "Now. I'd head off to the infirmary if I were you. You may have the abilities to heal wounds, but you're not quite strong enough to heal broken bones." the god finished. Well, I guess that answered my earlier question. "You're lessons will begin tomorrow at dawn. Don't be late." said Poseidon. Percy nodded and went to the infirmary.

I nudged Grover who looked at me. "Nice work. But next time I'd come up with my own words instead of quoting Chiron." I laughed. Poseidon laughed along with me. I understand why Athena didn't like him and all, but he seemed cool for a god. "How else was I suppose to convince him to do it? The guy's a stubborn mule." said Grover. Tyson and I gave him a look. Grover looked at me. "What? Donkeys and goats are totally different animals. I have no problem with that saying." he said. I snorted and Poseidon bid us farewell and good luck. Which is good because I had a feeling that we were gonna need it.

**Percy's POV**

After my visit to the infirmary, I headed upstairs to the attic to see the oracle. This time, I remembered a note pad and pen. I was going to write down what she said and remember all of it. My dad said I needed to be prepared for something. I wanted to know just what that was. I climbed up the latter, making sure no one followed me, and opened up the trap door. Everything looked just as it did a year ago. Even the skeleton. Which was still wrapped up in all of it's creepiness. I walked up to the skeleton slowly. The thing moved- that was also still creepy- and looked at me after it introduced itself. _"You may ask me one question demigod."_ it said. Okay, I had to think about the wording of my question. Which wasn't actually all that hard.

"What do I have to be prepared for?" I asked. Oh wait! I should have been more specific! Awe crap! I blew it. She could said just about anything. I braced myself for the prophecy.

"_All over the world are we hidden,_

_but our secrets of the past are forbidden,_

_a journey of self discovery lies ahead,_

_forgotten memories lie with the dead,_

_we will not be found so easily as you might think,_

_but for a fire to be put out it must drink,_

_combined together will you be stronger,_

_but when things are bliss, the darkness you will miss,_

_by the fourth night, we'll be out of sight_

_find us before dawn, and the darkness won't be drawn."_

After my headache went away, and the skeleton turned back to normal, I quickly wrote everything down. I looked at it. What did it even mean? Who was she talking about when she said "we"? Well, it was time to head back to my cabin to figure this out. Since capture the flag lasted all day thanks to Clarisse, it was supper time. I wasn't very hungry so I decided to skip it. I'd talk to Grover and Annabeth about this later. Oh yeah, and Tyson. Maybe they could help me figure this one out.

I got to my empty cabin, and laid down on my bed. I winced as my arm stiffened with pain. It still hurt, but it was better than before. I closed my eyes and thought about the prophecy.

All over the world? Forbidden secrets? Self discovery? I had so many questions. What about the last two lines? By the fourth night, we'll be out of sight, find us before dawn, and the darkness won't be drawn? What? When things are the most bliss, the darkness I will miss. That's the line that creeped me out. I didn't want to be blind when darkness was around.

As I thought about this more, I didn't realize how tired I was. I soon drifted off to sleep.

**A/N**: There's chapter two! :) Can or did anyone spot the reference to Community? Oh yeah, and I know Tyson doesn't really have a big role yet, but he will. Don't worry Tyson fans!


	3. That's Not How the Saying Goes

Chapter Three: That's not how the saying goes, and we're in Malaysia

**A/N**: It's me! Another chapter! Oh. If any of you guys are wondering about the chapter titles... I wanted them to be weird and random like they are in the books, but I couldn't really come up with anything. So then I figured, why not make them random quotes from the chapter? So there you have it. :)

The fun part for me is that you don't know who says it until they say it. ;) Have fun reading!

**Percy's POV**

The next morning came too soon. As soon as I woke up, I remembered those lessons that my dad made me take from Ria. I groaned. I couldn't believe he made me take them. Not to mention that I had to be her teacher as well. I sighed. Well, it was dawn. So I couldn't be late. I got up and changed as quietly as I could without waking up Tyson, and headed out to the training grounds.

I found Ria meditating on a large rock. She was wearing a purple dress with flowers on it, a pale green scarf, and black flats. She didn't seem to hear me coming. A dress for training? Alright then...

"Are you going to stare at me all day, or start training?" she asked suddenly. I sighed and walked up to her. How did she do that? Sure, I might be a clumsy on land, but I wasn't stomping or out of breath. "You're late." said Ria. What? No I wasn't. I was on time... wasn't I? "No I'm not I was-"

"Look at the sun. It's high in the sky. It rose five minutes ago. Lessons start at dawn. Dawn was five minutes ago. You're late." said Ria. Man, was she a stickler for details. "Sit." said Ria. I looked around, and found nothing but grass. "On what?" I asked. Ria sighed. "Where do you think Perseus, the grass. Sit." she said. I rolled my eyes and sat down. "It's Percy. So what's the first lesson?" I asked. Ria hadn't even opened her eyes, or moved from her spot on the rock yet.

"You must be able to clear your mind." she said.

"I can. In the water." I said.

"You must be able to do it in any environment." said Ria.

"I've tried, and I can't. The water's the best place for me."

"You cannot do this lesson in water."

"Why not?"

This time Ria sighed and looked at me sternly. "This lesson focusses on breathing. You cannot _breath_ under water Perseus." she said. Crap, she had a point. I crossed my legs and waited to be told what to do.

"Close your eyes." said Ria. I did so. "Good. Now clear your mind."

I focussed on my breathing. In... Out... In... But it was hard because I could feel her staring at me. Who could concentrate on anything when you're being stared at?

Suddenly I felt a hard stick smack against my back. "Ow! Why did you do that?" I asked. I felt her walk around and stand in front of me. "You aren't concentrating on your breathing." she said. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Well, I can't with you staring at me." I said. She rolled her eyes and sat down in front of me. "In order to move to the next lesson, you must be able to block out anything from your mind and focus on the task at hand. This one being breathing." she explained. She gave me an intense glare. I took in a deep breath. "Okay. Focus Percy." I said quietly to myself. In... Out...

After about five minutes of this, our class was interrupted. "I hate to interrupt dearies." said... an old lady? What? I opened my eyes and looked at who suddenly appeared here. Ria and I both stood up immediately. "Who are you?" I asked her. The woman gave us an innocent smile. As if she _were_ innocent. I could just feel the darkness coming off of her. How the heck did she get into Half-Blood? This was way too weird.

The woman was in fact old. She had grey hair that was tied back into a braid, and she wore old clothing. A dark green dress, with a black- what was that a cloak? She was fairly tall for an old lady though. It was like she never shrunk. She stood tall and it almost seemed like she had authority. It was just... weird. There was definitely something very dark about this woman. Something untrustworthy.

"That is non of your concern. I am here to simply deliver a message from my master." she said. Master? Just who was this person? "What message?" asked Ria. We stood our ground and waited for the woman to speak. Then her eyes locked on Ria's. Suddenly Ria closed her eyes in pain and held her head. I felt anger rise within me. "What are you doing!" I yelled at her. The woman didn't stop staring at Ria. It was like she was causing pain with her mind. What was she a witch? "What are you doing?" I asked, a little more calmly. No answer. What was happening?

Instead of pestering the old woman, I decided to try and talk to Ria. I bent down and kneeled beside her. "What's happening? What is she doing to you?" I asked as calmly as I could. I still didn't get a reply.

"Percy! What's happening? Who's that?" I heard Grover's voice behind me. Well, the others seemed to be up now. I looked back to see him, Annabeth, and Chiron staring with concern. "I don't know. Neither of them will answer." I said. The three of them were about to walk up, when Ria stood up. I stood up as well, but kept a close eye on her. Something seemed- off. "Um, are you-" I never got to finish. Ria suddenly drew a silver sword from a hidden pocket inside her dress, and swung at me. I have to say, I did not see that one coming. Luckily I just barely dodged it. The tip of the blade only grazed my cheek. It still hurt a bit, but I was fine. "What- what are you doing?" I managed to ask. I got up from the ground quickly. "Stay back brother! It's not her! She's being controlled!" shouted Tyson.

I glanced at him, and looked Ria in the eyes. Tyson was right. It was the old woman controlling her. I was in serious trouble. Ria could probably easily kick my butt with her skills, and she was being controlled by darkness. I only had my training from last summer. I didn't even have a weapon to defend myself whenever she started attacking again! Ria looked at the other three who were still in shock. "Do not interfere." she said. Her voice was almost robotic. It was creepy. "Or there will be consequences." Wow. Again, creepy.

Her attention returned to me. Then she started attacking again. She swung her sword professionally. I did my best to dodge, but she moved way too fast. I was soon backed up against a tree with almost nowhere to go. Crap! I wish I had at least _something_ to defend myself with. I didn't even have Riptide because when this craziness began, I realized I had left it back in my cabin. This was going to end badly, I knew it. "Percy look out!" shouted Grover. I looked to my left to see Clarisse, who had suddenly appeared, coming at me with her sword. I knew then she was being controlled also. I would have punched Ria to get her to snap out of it, but something willed me not to. That just made me confused. What was wrong with me?

"_Idiot! Do something!"___my brain shot at me. But it was too late. Clarisse stabbed me in the side, and I went down. However, that happened _after_ Ria sliced my chest with her sword. I heard Chiron and the other two run over quickly. I can't even describe the pain I felt. My breathing was very off, and wheezy. It hurt so much! I looked up at the two girls that had struck me. What I saw scared me half to death. Their eyes held so much darkness and hatred. There was no light in them whatsoever. They showed no emotion either. It was like they were working for the underworld. Those two girls that I had known- were gone.

They still had their swords drawn, but they weren't attacking. I was very thankful for that. I'm not sure how much I would have been able to take. Then Clarisse spoke in the same robotic form that Ria did. "This is a message from our master." she said. Seriously. Who was this person? "In four days time, great power shall be mine." said Ria.

"If the heroes fail, then my plan prevails," said Clarisse. Oh great. Another prophecy. Oh the joys of being me. "To defeat me, find all three before me." said Ria.

Apparently there was one more line, but I didn't get it. Sadly I passed out from the blood loss before they said it. I did hear one thing though. "Die Perseus. Son of Poseidon." Those two sentences chilled me to my very core. It was Ria's robotic voice. I felt another sharp pain on my neck, but then I felt nothing. I was out.

**Grover's POV**

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man! How did this even happen? I knew that answer. That creepy witch-like lady. When we looked up from Percy, who had passed out, the woman was gone. Just like that. Ria and Clarisse fell to the ground, unconscious. This was bad. This was so very bad! Chiron lifted Percy up carefully. "You two must explain to those two girls what has happened once they awaken. But do me a favour, try not to sound too panicked." he said. Annabeth and I nodded. Great. I was quite sure that I wasn't going to be able to do it without sounding panicked. Maybe Annabeth could though. I'd just get her to explain, while I'd stand in the background.

It wasn't long before the two girls woke up. Clarisse was the first to speak. "Whoa. Where am I? Oh yeah. I was on my way over- whoa. Wait, what? Who's blood- OH MY GODS WHAT IN THE HADES HAPPENED!" she shouted. She surprisingly dropped her sword in shock. Percy's blood of course was on their swords, on the grass, a bit on them- yeah... It was kind of gross. I was never fond of the sight of blood. Oh boy, Annabeth soon had to explain to them what happened. Ria gasped at the sight and also dropped- well, threw her sword far away from her. She started to hyperventilate. Not good. Clarisse got her to look her right in the eyes. "It's okay. It's okay. Calm down." she said. Ria nodded and began to try and calm down. Wow. Who knew Clarisse could calm people down?

"Uh, so. Annabeth has something she needs to explain to you guys." I said. Annabeth gave me a look. "Thank you _so_ much." she said sarcastically. I just shrugged. Hey, I wasn't great at explaining a desperate, serious situation. Especially if it involved one of my friends. Then Annabeth went on to explain the past event to them. Needless to say, the girls were incredibly shocked. I'm positive that they were thinking something along the lines of- "Holy Hades, we could have killed him!" or some such. Clarisse obviously didn't know what to say. It was clear to all of us that she was scared. Sure, she was the daughter of the God of war, but that didn't mean she could, or was ready to actually _kill_ someone. "That son of a- when I get my hands on her she's gonna-"

"Try not to worry too much. It wasn't your fault. You were being controlled by someone. Someone... that wanted my brother- gone." said Tyson. I could tell he debated whether or not to say dead. Ria had calmed down, but she still looked worried and scared. In fact, so did Clarisse. She looked like she realized something big. "But what if- what if it was a threat to all of us? Not just him? But everyone here at camp? And the gods?" she asked quietly. Something big was right. When the girls were being controlled, they had mentioned "heroes." Not hero. That had to mean our little group right? So then, a lot more was at steak here! Oh my gosh! I didn't say anything though, because I did _not_ trust my voice.

"We should probably see how he's doing." said Annabeth. Good idea. Oh wait. Bad idea. That might freak the girls out to see what they actually did. "Um, are you sure they should-" I started, but Annabeth interrupted me.

"Yes. I'm sure. It'll be fine Grover." said Annabeth. She led the other girls towards the infirmary. "Are you _sure_ you didn't just let your non-wise part of your brain speak?" I asked. No answer. Just eye rolls. Girls. Sheesh. I followed them to where Percy was nonetheless.

It wasn't a very pretty sight. Yes, they had him all bandaged up and such, and the blood was cleaned up, but still- it just wasn't pretty. Ria and Clarisse didn't say anything. I'm not sure they could. No one did. The nurses and doctors were done fixing up Percy. I was surprised at how fast they moved. But then I wasn't surprised as much after hearing that they poured plenty of water on him. He must have subconsciously healed himself. Man, what a guy. I wish I had those powers. A doctor said he'd still be out for about a day or two. Or three. Or a week... Okay. They weren't exactly sure. His healing process was different then most campers. It made sense though, considering it was Percy.

We all sat around his bed and looked down at him. Annabeth, Tyson and I sat on his right, while the other two sat on his left. "I can't believe it." Clarisse said quietly. I almost didn't catch it, it was so quiet. She looked at the wound she'd caused that was close to his heart. "I could have stabbed his heart." she said. She looked ultimately depressed. "I mean, yeah I don't like the guy, but I don't like him enough to- to..." she couldn't finish. Ria looked even worse. Close to tears in fact. She didn't say a thing. I decided to try and lighten up the mood.

"Hey now. You two weren't yourselves. You were being controlled. You didn't know. He's alright. Healing faster than the doctors thought too." I said. They nodded and gave small smiles. "But man, if he keeps getting knocked out for days at a time, he won't get to see the summer solstice! Or the food festival in Manhattan that Chiron's letting us go to..." I sighed. Clarisse and Annabeth snorted at this. Ria gave another smile. "Thanks man..." came a tired voice. We all gasped as Percy tiredly gave us a smile. "Wow. That was fast." I commented. "Man these guys are good." I said in awe.

"Brother!" Tyson said quietly.

Percy chuckled. "Hey. So- so what happened after I uh-" he asked. He looked as though he'd fall back asleep at any moment. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was a still a bit pale from the loss of blood, but he looked better. "Perce man, we'll tell you when you can actually remember what we say. Okay? Just fall back asleep and rest. You need it." I said. Percy nodded. In less than three seconds, he was out. Just then Chiron walked in.

"You five, we need to talk." he said. He led us to the Big House. I couldn't help but wonder if this was about that creepy woman we saw earlier. We sat around the large desk as Chiron sat on the other side with Mr. D. "I'm sure you are well aware that because of the prophecy that we witnessed today- there will be a quest. I had a chat with all of the Gods, and they seem to think what the items are this mystery darkness is after. Three items." said Chiron. He handed me an inscription on a gem. Apparently, it wasn't just any type of gem. _"Duh you idiot. It's not if someone evil is after it!"_ I instantly thought.

"This gem, brings those that have died- back to life. It was thought to be gone, destroyed by the gods. However there's a problem. The one that was suppose to destroy it- didn't." said Chiron. I thought on this for a moment. Although it wasn't hard to figure out which god it was. "It does sound like a Hades thing to do..." I commented. Chiron nodded. I sighed as another thought hit me. "We have to go to Hell again?" I asked. Chiron surprisingly shook his head no.

"Malaysia."

"Oh cool. They have great Laksa there." I said. I ignored the girl's shaking their heads, and Mr. D's snort. What? I love food. I'm a satyr. It's natural.

"Anyways. Yes. Malaysia. Singapore to be exact. Only two can go to this one. So, who will it be?" asked Chiron. I instantly rose my hand, as did Annabeth. Cool. Looked like it was us. "Nice." I said. Annabeth smiled.

"Very well. You two will head out tomorrow morning, at dawn. Understood?" said Chiron. We both nodded. Chiron nodded and handed Ria an inscription on...a feather? "This is no ordinary feather. It holds the power of the wind. It's very powerful. In the wrong hands it could spell disaster. It was last spotted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. You and Percy- once he is healed completely, will go out immediately." said Chiron. Ria nodded. She didn't look too please that she got paired with Percy. Oh man, I would love to see Percy's face when he sees who he's paired with. Too bad I have to leave before them.

"You my dear, will be going to go with Tyson in search of this." Chiron said to Clarisse. He handed her an inscription. "A pocket watch? Really?" said Clarisse. She didn't sound impressed. Chiron looked as though he wanted to sigh. "It's not an old forgotten pocket watch Clarisse, it has the power of time travel." Chiron said seriously. Clarisse looked up from the inscription. She shrugged. "Alright. That's cool." she said.

"It was also last spotted in Rome."

"Cool. I've always wanted to go to Rome." said Tyson.

"Not cool." said Clarisse. "Do you have any idea of what danger we'd find ourselves in if anyone found out about us? Not to mention who my dad is- God of War?"

"She does have a point sir." said Annabeth.

"That is exactly why we won't take the direct rout there. I'm not talking about the mortal way. We all have to take an indirect rout to our locations. It's much safer. Now, when the Gods travelled the world before residing here in New York, they left special portals that open at night, and close at dawn. They are very well hidden. Not even the Roman gods know of them. That, is what we'll use." said Chiron.

"Cool..." I said. Secret portals. I'll bet not many satyrs use them. Could I be the first? "So... how many satyrs use them?" I asked. Chiron looked at me. "A few." he said. Awe man. So much for that. "We have to have some searchers out there in the world of course. The Gods were thinking about doing an exchange program, but of course, after the Romans, well, that idea sort of bottomed out." said Chiron. I nodded.

Chiron handed Annabeth a couple of maps, one of the portals, and one of Singapore. "Keep them safe, and don't loose them. If you ever need to communicate with me, or Mr. D, or anyone else, you can use these." he said. He brought out seven pearls that were attached to either bracelets, or necklaces. "How do we use them?" asked Annabeth.

"It's simple really. All you have to do, is say the name of the person you want to communicate with. A holographic image will appear on the nearest flat surface. For instance. Clarisse, could you please?" asked Chiron. Clarisse took a bracelet and put it on. Chiron picked up one of the necklace ones. "Clarisse La Rue." he said.

No less than a second after, his image appeared on the desk from Clarisse's bracelet, and her's from his necklace. "Oh. Okay. So do you just talk normally then?" I asked. Chiron nodded.

"Yes, it really is that simple. But please, try not to loose these. We only have twenty left in the world. " he said. We all nodded.

"Well then. I'd say that it's time." said Chiron. We started to leave for the day.

"Oh, wait. How do we end a- call?" asked Annabeth. Oh yeah, good question. I guess we'll need to know that. Chiron smiled as we all left the Big House. "Oh, the pearls will know when you're finished. Now you must get going." he said. We all left to pack a backpack. We would only be gone for three or four days so we obviously didn't need much.

The next morning, right at dawn, I met Annabeth at her cabin. She opened the door and stepped out. "Ready?" she asked.

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" I asked. She rolled her eyes. "Oh please don't be such a smart donkey the during whole trip." she said. Donkey? Donkey! "I am _not_ a donkey. I am part _goat_. So _please_ do not call me that during the whole trip." I said, mocking her. We laughed. "So where are these portal things?" I asked. She brought out the portal map.

"Uh... the one to Singapore is..." she trailed off, and looked confused. That was not good when _Annabeth_ was confused. "Uh oh. That's not a good sign. I know that look." I said. Annabeth shook her head as if she just wasn't understanding the map. "Let me look at it." I said.

**Annabeth's POV**

I gave Grover the map. This map... it didn't make any sense. It said that the portal to Singapore was beneath the camp. _Beneath_ the camp! How are we suppose to get to it? "Beneath the camp? And _how_ pre-tell does Chiron expect us to know how to get there?" asked Grover. I rolled my eyes. "I don't know. Maybe we should ask him." I said. I pulled out my necklace. "Chiron." I said. But, nothing happened. "What? Chiron." I said more clearly. Still, nothing. "What the heck? Did I get a faulty one? That's just gr-"

"Mr. Brunner!" said Grover. I rolled my eyes knowing it wouldn't work. I was surprisingly proven wrong. Grover laughed victoriously. "You called?" said Chiron. "I would have expected this to come much later. I have to say, I am surprised."

"Yeah, I can explain that. Our map says that the portal to Singapore is beneath the camp." said Grover.

"Yes."

"So... just how do we get there?"

"Well, the Gods always did like a challenge. This would be your first task. Good luck." said Chiron.

Then the hologram disappeared. The two of us sighed. "Well, that didn't work. Ooh, maybe Mr. D knows." said Grover. I shook my head. I didn't exactly trust that god. "Nah. He probably won't be much help. That and there's the fact that he'll be busy too." I said.

"Yeah busy drinking coke and playing cards-"

"Anyway, we're smart I'm sure we can figure it out." I suddenly regretted saying those words. Grover looked at me. "She finally says I'm her equal! I never thought the day would come!" he said happily. I rolled my eyes. I had the feeling that I'd be doing that a lot on this trip. Oh well. That's Grover for you.

Suddenly Clarisse's holographic image shot out from Grover's pearl. "Huh? Clarisse? Why are you calling?" he asked. Clarisse just looked at him. It almost looked like she was trying not to laugh at something. Weird. Then Tyson popped into view. "Uh, h-hey, guys. I guess it works when we say our names at any time, so I guess we'll just have to watch that when we're in amongst mortals huh?" he said. With that, they disappeared.

"Well. That was..." I said.

"Random." said Grover.

"Yeah. Okay. Beneath the camp. I wonder if there are any hidden tunnels- hidden tunnels of course! It must be underwater!" I said. Then I realized what I had just said.

"Underwater? Annabeth, we aren't Percy. But, it does make sense. I mean, how else would we access the area beneath the camp? But still... how do _we_ get there? I don't know about you, but I'm not a great swimmer, and neither of us can hold our breath for very long." said Grover. He had good points there. I sighed. I had a feeling I'd be doing that a lot too. "Well, I don't know! Do you have a better idea?" I asked. If I sounded harsh, I didn't mean to. I just _really_ don't like it when I don't know something. That's all. But I think Grover understands that so it's okay.

"Um, yeah no not exactly." was Grover's reply. So, we headed towards the lake to see if we can find anything out. The lake was so calm this morning. Not a ripple in sight. "I wonder how deep it is..." said Grover. "Man, I wish Percy was here. I'll bet anything, that he knows everything about this lake."

"I wonder if he's awake yet. Think we could go check?" I asked. I knew it might be pointless, but there was no harm in checking. Right? "I don't know... but-" Grover was interrupted by a nymph.

"Oh hello. I am Aba." said the nymph. We stared at her. "Aba? Weren't you created by Poseidon?" I asked. Aba nodded. She walked over to the lake. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about his son, Perseus. Oh, I guess I should say Percy. I heard he prefers that name over Perseus." Aba laughed. Grover and I looked at each other, and Grover shrugged. "Yeah actually. Um, we are trying to find the portal to Singapore? We were thinking that since the map says it's beneath the camp, it'd be somewhere around here. Oh! Do you know?" asked Grover. Aba looked at him and smiled. "Of course. All nymphs are aware of the portals. Hm. You two are on a quest, aren't you? You need to find the Gem of Life?" she asked. We nodded.

"Forgive me, I can sense these things. It's in people's auras. But the portal you are looking for isn't around here." said Aba. Grover and I looked at each other, confused. "It's not?" I asked. Aba shook her head no. "No dear. It's beneath the- what are you kids calling it nowadays? Oh yes. The Big House." said Aba. We stared at her in thought. I sighed realizing what she meant._"Duh! You idiot!"_ I thought to myself.

"The basement of course! Duh! Come on Grover, and thank you Aba!" I said. We began to head to the Big House. "Don't mention it dear!" she called. Grover caught up to me. "Wait, hold on. The Big House has a basement?" he asked. I stopped for a second and looked at him. "How long have you been at this camp?" I asked. Grover shrugged.

"I guess I had no need to go down there, so I didn't pay attention." he said.

We walked passed Mr. D, who didn't even notice us by the way and was playing cards, and made our way to the basement door. It was no wonder we didn't think of it before. There was a sign that said: "Danger. If you know nothing about this, you are not permitted to go through this door." At first, the basement looked like, well, an ordinary office basement. Except for the fact that behind another door that said portals, there looked to be about twelve different hallways filled with doors. Just how many places did these gods go to in the world?

"Hm, so we have to find the door to Singapore. Which door is it? Which hallway?" I said. There were so many others to choose from. They all had their location above them, but I couldn't find Singapore. Where was it? There were so many hallways! So many doors! Where would we start?

Grover tapped me on the arm. He glanced at me and smiled. "You mean like that?" he asked. Oh, that was fast. I was just over thinking it. I do that sometimes. I try not to. I looked to our left, and saw a green painted door with an ancient looking doorknob, there were ancient Greek words above it. They flew off the wall and changed into English. "Singapore, Malaysia. Here it is." I said. Grover walked up to the door, and held onto the doorknob.

"Knock, knock." he said. I looked at him oddly. He gave me a look. "_Knock, knock_." he said. I then realized what he was getting at. "Oh. Who's there?" I asked.

"Singapore."

With that, he opened the door. There was a blinding light at first, but then we were able to see. "Okay yes, that was lame. But come on, I had to do a knock, knock joke." laughed Grover. I laughed with him. Only Grover would do that. Well, maybe Percy would too. Grover brought out the map of Singapore.

"Oh man, this place is huge. Mm- I can already smell the Laksa..." he said. I rolled my eyes. Food always distracted him. But I could also smell the food. Maybe we were near restaurants or something. "Great. How are we going to find this gem, in this huge city? It doesn't even say how big it is. Just the colour, green, and it's power. To bring the dead to life. We only have four days, what and Rome was built in a day!" Grover said, getting frustrated. I sighed.

"That's not how the saying goes, and we're in Malaysia." I corrected. I couldn't help it. It's who I am. "Whatever, you know what I mean." said Grover. We made our way through an ancient looking tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there were stairs. "Wow. Once we climb those stairs, we'll be in Singapore." I said.

**Clarisse's POV**

I woke up right on time at dawn. This was the day our quest began. I sighed as I got dressed. Ugh. My quest with- _him_. Prissy's brother, Tyson. I haven't come up with a name for him yet surprisingly. Actually, it just hit me that I haven't come up with a name for Grover yet either. Huh. I have to work on that. Anyways, moving on.

I did my usual things in the morning, and headed out. I just realized that we hadn't suggested any meeting place. So, I just went to Poseidon's cabin and banged on the door. "Yo cyclops it's dawn!" I shouted. Cyclops. I could do better than that. Ugh. I didn't care if I woke up someone else. I was impatient and I wanted to get this over with. At first I got no answer. "Hey, one-eyed fish! Hurry up!" I yelled. I tried the door knob, but since I wasn't any kid of fish king, the doorknob turned to water as soon as I touched it. When I moved my hand, it returned its shape as a doorknob. Huh. That's new. "Come on kelp eye!" I shouted.

"Chill, I'm here." said a voice behind me.

I quickly turned around to see the doofus I've been calling for the past minute or so. I glared at him. How _dare_ he make a fool out of me! "Where the hell have you been!" I shouted- albeit, more quietly this time. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He tried to grab my hand and break free. "I'm sorry- I was taking a morning swim and-" he stuttered. I didn't listen to a word he said. He made look like an idiot for about a minute! No one, and I mean, _no one_, does that and gets away with it. I dragged him away from the cabins towards the Big House area. After a while, I stopped and pushed him to the ground.

On the way, I spotted Annabutt and Grover looking confused at their map. What brainy butt couldn't figure out a map?

I took out our map of the portals and looked at it. Although I wouldn't admit it, I realized why the other two were confused. The portal to Rome was _beneath_ the camp. What the heck did that mean? "What's up?" asked Tyson. I glanced at him, still angry. I didn't need his help. Chiron would have a better answer.

"Chiron." I said to my pearl. Nothing happened. "_Chi- ron_." I said. Did I just get a faulty pearl? Oh hell no! I groaned and decided to forget about the centaur. "Jackass." I muttered.

Just then Grover's holographic image appeared from my pearl. "Huh? Clarisse? Why are you calling?" he asked. I just looked at him. I was trying not to laugh my head off. I think Tyson was trying to do the same thing and be nice to Grover."Uh, h-hey, guys. I guess it works when we say our names at any time, so I guess we'll just have to watch that when we're amongst mortals huh?" he said. With that, they disappeared. Then Tyson and I burst out laughing! I guess I found a new name for Grover.

"Can I see the map?" asked Tyson, after his laughter died down. I sighed, and gave it to him. It's not like he'll know wh-

"Oh. Beneath the camp. They mean the basement under the Big House." he said instantly. What? How did he do that? Wait, _he_ figured out something before Annabutt daughter of Athena did! "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said. I still didn't like the guy, but he beat Annabutt to it, so I'll give him that much. My only reward was that I didn't drag him by his shirt collar inside the Big House. I was sure that we weren't really allowed in there unless we were called by either Mr. D or Chiron, so we snuck our way around. If only Tyson didn't stomp his way around. I stopped in the middle of one of the hallways.

"Would you be quiet?" I whispered harshly.

"Sorry. I'm not use to sneaking around." he said. "I'll try to be more quiet."

We kept going and soon we found a door to an office. A door with a sign that said: "Danger. If you know nothing about this, you are not permitted to go through this door. "Huh. That'll spike any Hermes kid's curiosity." I said. "Well, I think this is it." I opened the door.

Inside was just a normal office- except for the door that said: Portals. "And there they are. Don't touch that." I said and smacked Tyson's hand away from a bottle of old wine. It was probably Mr. D's. Man, I just had to be stuck with this loser. What we saw inside the portal room, I didn't expect.

There were about twelve rows of doors. Which one was ours? Then I noticed that they had their locations printed above them. Okay, so all we had to do was find Rome, Italy. "Alright. Now we just have to find Rome." I said.

"Okay. Hey, maybe it's a red door." said Tyson. I looked at him. "What? For some reason every time I think of red, I think of Rome. Maybe it's because of their food. But that wouldn't make sense because the red sauce that we know of isn't actually Italian-"

I cut him off by walking away. "Hey wait for me!" he called. There was no time to waste. We had to find that door before the sun was all the way up, or it closed!

I walked fast through every hallway. Where was it? I couldn't find it anywhere! "They should think about arranging these alphabetically." said Tyson. I sighed, but tried to ignore him. Although, he did have a point. Not that I would admit it out loud for him to hear. I have a feeling he'd be like Prissy, and make jokes. That's really annoying. Not that it ever happened to me, no, no, with Annabutt. The know-it-all. She hates it when she has to say that he's right. That's the really the only good thing about their friendship that I like. Whenever he beats her at something. That's it. That's all. Besides that we're all enemies.

"Oh hey look there it- WHOA!" shouted Tyson. I turned and saw him back away from a- a hell hound? Huh? What is that doing up here? In the basement of the Big House! The thing barked a few times and then growled. Tyson stood in front of me with his arms out. "Look, we don't mean any harm- just trying to get to Rome. Through that door." he said, and gestured to a- huh. The door was red. Then the dog started attacking.

"Uh, stay? Sit! Down boy!" shouted Tyson as he tried to fight off the hell hound. We found ourselves moving away from the Rome door, and with one more leap from the hound, we fell through another.

**A/N**: Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun! Where are they? Any guesses? :)

R &amp; R please! :)


	4. AWE CRAP!

**A/N**: yay! Chapter four! So, a reminder that this chapter is taking place at the same time as chapter three is. :) Enjoy! Oh, and for those wondering, this is not Grover/Annabeth. Nope. They have a more sibling-like relationship. This is just so you know.

***I have put a Modern Family reference I here. I'll give you a hint- Ria _says_ it. Good luck! :)

**Percy's POV**

It was weird. As soon as I heard voices around me, I knew where I was. The infirmary. Again. Wait. What happened? I couldn't really remember, and that scared me. "Ai he's coming to, you should have that stuff ready for him." said a voice. I recognized it. Who was it? It was a female voice... an accent. Man, I did not like this one bit. I _like_ having my memories. Even the bad ones. At least I remember them! I didn't remember anything about this day. Wait. Something... something big was happening.

"Perseus, can you hear me?" asked the same voice. Who was that? I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was a bit blurry, but it wasn't bad. I saw a girl sitting on a stool beside my bed. Something told me that I knew her, but I couldn't remember her name. I looked her in the eyes- and then I remembered her. "It's Percy..." I mumbled.

Ria. Ria... something. I remembered that I only got her last name once, therefore, I forgot what it was. Oh the irony.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked. "You seemed to have trouble remembering me, so that's why I'm asking." I thought back to when I woke up this morning. I couldn't even remember what happened then. I didn't like this. Did I mention that? "No. I don't. I remember what happened the day before yesterday, but, nothing yesterday." I said. Oh crap. I just realized that this must be what Ria feels like everyday. She doesn't remember her _entire_ past. Actually, it must be worse than this.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes to try and make the blurriness go away. When I looked at Ria, she almost seemed, ashamed of something. Maybe it was what had to do with what happened? She was holding a cup of ambrosia, and thank gosh for that. I felt weak. I wasn't exactly in pain, just weak and tired. Although, maybe the pain would come later if I didn't drink that ambrosia she was holding. I think she was debating whether or not to tell me what happened. I decided to do my best at asking what was wrong, without sounding like a jerk. It um, surprisingly happened quite often.

"Hey, uh, are you-" she suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand, and gave me the ambrosia.

Suddenly I remembered everything.

Everything from when I woke up, to us arguing during my training, to how I ended up in the infirmary. Again. Man, if this keeps happening, I'll miss the food festival in Manhattan. That's just my life though, isn't it? I tried to ignore the tingly feeling in my hand when Ria let go.

"Oh man, I remember everything..." I sighed. I took a sip of the sweet ambrosia and laid back in the bed. "So, does anyone know where that ***** went?" I asked. Ria gave me a look. "What?" I asked.

"You mean, _witch_, right?" she asked. We had a moment where we just looked at each other awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. That's um, what I said. So..." I said. Why did this have to be so awkward! "Uh, so where are the others?" I asked. Although, judging by the look on her face, I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. She took a deep breath before explaining.

"Um, well, after we visited you here once the doctors fixed you up, Chiron called us in. He explained that there was in fact someone threatening us, and said that there were three items that we had to find." she said. Great. Another quest. "They are spread out around the world, and they were each last seen in Rome, Rio de Janeiro, and Singapore. In order to save time, Chiron split us up into groups of two. Annabeth and Grover went to Singapore, and Tyson and Clarisse went to Rome." she paused. Awe crap, that meant I was stuck with her. As if it wasn't awkward enough. "Grover and Annabeth have to find a gem that can bring the dead to life, and Clarisse and Tyson have to find a pocket watch that allows the user to time travel. We have to search for this." she pulled out a sheet of paper with a bunch of writing on it, and a drawing.

"A feather?" I asked.

"This feather holds the power of the wind. Chiron says it's very powerful. If it fell into the wrong hands it could spell disaster." said Ria. Oh, now it made sense.

"Hold on, if what we're looking for is in _Rio_, how does he expect us to get there?"

Ria pulled out two maps. One was of Rio and the other was of... wow, secret portals? I didn't know those existed. "Chiron said that very few people know these portals exist," said Ria. Oh, that's why. "The gods created them when they were travelling the world, and thought they would create an exchange camper thing. But then the whole thing with the Romans happened, and the idea was forgotten." explained Ria. I almost wish it wasn't. I'd love to see the world someday when I wasn't on a quest. Then Ria pulled out a couple of pearls that were attached to a bracelet and a necklace.

"These are communication devices. You just say the name of one of the other four, and a holographic image of them appears on the closest flat surface. Just watch, it's easy." said Ria. She handed me one of the pearls. "Perseus Jackson." she said. No sooner after, my image appeared on the bed from her pearl, and her image appeared on the bed from mine. "And you just talk normally, and the pearl apparently knows when the conversation has ended." said Ria. Huh. Surprisingly much easier than a phone, and faster. I was sure that these would sell out in the mortal world.

"So we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. The doctors want to keep you here another night, and they said I could help." said Ria. I silently sighed. I know it sounds mean, but I just didn't like her. "Uh, that's okay I don't-" I started, but she interrupted.

"Don't be such a baby. I can easily heal the smaller cuts." she said. "Besides, we're going to spend the next few days together, so we might as well start now." I sighed. But why did it have to be her?

After a few minutes of arguing about where we'd look first, we got into another argument about her healing me again. I didn't understand why Chiron paired us up. We didn't get along, and we kept arguing each others decisions. No doubt, we were the worst team in history. Well, actually, I'm not sure if Tyson and Clarisse were doing any better. I was pretty sure that Clarisse would lose it sooner or later. I'm also pretty sure my dad was disappointed in me... He hasn't said anything to me all day. Not that he does _everyday_, but still.

"It's fine, it doesn't need-"

"Perseus, just let me-"

"It's Percy, and-"

Without warning, she went to the other side of the bed, grabbed my left hand and held it down on the bed so I could interfere. She then proceeded to work with the flowers that were on the table beside it. She stretched the stem of one of the small flowers out until it reached the cut on my cheek. Ria placed her hand on the flower and pressed down lightly. For some reason, I couldn't move. I figured that had something to do with her power. I also decided that the tingly feeling I got on my face, was because of her power. But then, I was confused as to why I felt it in my hand she was holding. The feeling in my cheek followed her hand as it slid down to the cut on my neck. I could have sworn she was glowing a little. Maybe that was just part of her power. Yeah that's it. After a few more seconds, she stopped using her healing powers.

"There." she said. Then she slapped me in the head. Probably for being stubborn. I tried to ignore the tingly feeling that was still there.

So that's pretty much how the rest of the day was. Annoying.

The next morning, I woke up early and walked out of the infirmary. I felt normal again. "Perseus!" Ria called. Strangely, the only thing that came to mind as I waved was, "what was with her and bright colours?" I tried to ignore the thought.

"Percy, uh, hi." I said quickly before she slapped me again. But she slapped me anyway. She did that whenever I corrected her, and it wasn't just when she said Perseus. It was just in general. I had a feeling she loved causing me harm, which was a bit disturbing to me. This gave me the feeling that she didn't like me either. I took out the map of the portals. Beneath the camp. That was weird, that's all it said. Beneath the camp could mean anything. "Hey Perseus are you coming?" called Ria. She was already passed me, and on her way to- the Big House? Why there? I ran to catch up to her. "It's Percy!" Yes, she hit me. "So, you wanna tell me why the Big House?" I asked. It was probably harsher that I meant it to be. She didn't answer. Apparently not. We went the rest of the way in an awkward silence.

It was almost as if she knew exactly where to go. I followed her through the hallways of the Big House, until we came to an old office. In the basement. Oh, duh. Of course! Where else would the portals be? In no time, Ria had led me straight to the door of portals. Seriously, the door said portals on it.

Inside the room, were rows of doors all leading to somewhere different in the world. Where was Rio? We had no idea. They weren't even in alphabetical order! There wasn't even a colour scheme. Just random names, random colours, and a large sleeping hell hound- WHAT THE HELL!

"Uh, do you see what I see?" I asked Ria. She turned, and almost freaked out. She gasped and I instantly covered her mouth with my hand. There was no need to wake up the hound. We didn't need any trouble. Knowing that Ria wouldn't scream or anything, I removed my hand. Again, I tried ignored the tingly feeling. What was with that? Hades had some explaining to do to Zeus and the other gods and goddesses. That was one of _his_ creatures after all. "If we stay quiet, it won't wake up." I said.

"Perseus, I see our door." whispered Ria. She pointed down the first hallway to a purple door with a red doorknob. "It's Percy." I said, and glanced back at the hound- only to find it not there. "Wait. The hound, it's-" I suddenly heard growling behind us. Awe come on, why couldn't there just be one moment of my life where I'm not in danger?

At first neither us, or the dog did anything. The thing only growled as if it were warning us not to go through our door that it was guarding. "Well, I guess we don't have to whisper anymore." I said. Ria hit me on the arm pretty hard. "Ow!" I said as quietly as I could. "What?"

The dog barked at us, but it still didn't do anything else. "I have an idea." said Ria. She started to back up, so I followed. We backed up until the end of the hallway, and went into the one next to the one we needed. I took out Riptide as quietly as I could. We walked slowly down to the other end of the hallway. We were going to try and sneak up on the dog from behind it. We almost made it! If only the dog hadn't turned around. The hell hound barked a bunch of times at us, and looked ready to pounce.

Suddenly Ria got in front of me, and kicked the dog in the head with her heel. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" shouted Ria. She shoved me through the portal to Rio and we were soon safe. We took a moment to calm down after the hound. "You know I could have-" but Ria interrupted me.

"But you didn't, so I did." she said. She brought out the map of Rio. "Where should we start?" she asked.

"I say we start with some food-"

"You're worse than Grover!"

Just then said goat man's image appeared from her pearl. Oops. "Uh, hey guys. Now's not exactly a good time. See- Annabeth wait! Sorry, I gotta go stop her from breaking and entering into a rich person's home! See ya!" Grover said quickly. Then he disappeared.

"Okay. That was weird even for him. And Annabeth. So I guess we have to watch ourselves when we say their names." I said. There was another _joyful_ awkward moment of silence. "So, where's the nearest restaurant?" I said. Ria sighed. "What? I missed breakfast, so I'm hungry." Ria rolled her eyes, and looked as though she was resisting another sigh. She dug around in her big purse, and pulled out a... banana? She handed it to me. "There. Eat." she said, and went back to looking at the map.

"So- so you just have a banana in your purse?" I asked. I started eating the fruit anyhow. I really was starving. Ria scoffed. "You don't know much about women do you Perseus?" she said, smiling. This time I sighed. "We keep all the small things we need in our purses." she paused. "Including weapons." I almost choked. Weapons? I guess I had to watch my back and not tick her off any more than I already do...

"You know that I could just knock you out cold in a second right Perseus?" said Ria.

"It's Percy, and I can defend myself, and I do know stuff about- uh, never mind. Where are we going to first?" I asked. I thought this conversation might head to a weird place, so I changed it. Ria's face scrunched up in thought. "Well, we are looking for an ancient feather. It could either be hidden in the local zoo, or in a museum- or in the dark and dangerous jungle where there is said to be spirits that haunt it and are related to ancient times." she said. There was a pause. Then we said two very similar, yet different things at the same time.

"Let's go to the jungle-"

"I say the jungle."

**Grover's POV**

So note to self, when in Singapore or travelling with Annabeth- don't let her eat spicy food. She gets a very strange reaction. Sure, she says she's fine. But her brain turns to mush. Too bad I didn't know that until _after _we went to that fantastic restaurant. Who knew miss brainy pants would have such a weird reaction to spicy food? It made me wonder if all Athena's children have the same reaction. I might want to let Chiron know. Anyways, since we ate at that place for a quick lunch Annabeth's been... oh what's the word I'm looking for? Weird doesn't really cut it, we're all weird every now and then. What word is it...

Then I'm whisked out of my train of thought at the sight of Annabeth... breaking into an abandoned building?! "Annabeth!" I whispered loudly. I ran over to her and dragged her away from the building. "What in the name of Hades were you doing?" I asked hastily. She raised her crowbar- I have no idea where she found it- unintentionally near my face as she started to explain. I grabbed it from her just to be safe. "Well, I was- hey!" she whined when I took the crowbar. She made a grab for it, but I was too tall for her so I held it up high above her head. As I had dragged her away earlier, I made sure that we were hidden from the other people. "Ugh. Fine. Okay, I just saw the building. So then I figured, hey if I wanted to hide a precious gem, why not take it to an abandoned building? It's genius!" she said. Oh boy. This was not Annabeth Chase. The girl I know, would have thought of the obvious fact that it wouldn't be in some random building. She would have also thought of the _safety_ factor!

Just then, with perfect timing, Ria and Percy's image appeared from my pearl. Why did people keep calling me? "Uh, hey guys. Now's not exactly a good time. See- Annabeth wait! Sorry, I gotta go stop her from breaking and entering a rich person's home! See ya!" I gave their confused looks a wave, and ended the call. I ran after Annabeth who took the time to find another crowbar- where did she find these things? I found her walking up behind a very tall and pricy looking house. I was seriously thinking about calling up Chiron and asking if this was an Athena cabin thing, or just an Annabeth thing. I was hoping for the second one of course.

"Grover! I got this! Just let me break in and find the gem-" she started. I shook my head and grabbed her second crowbar from her.

"No more crowbars. No more breaking and entering." I said very sternly. Annabeth pouted like a little kid, crossed her arms, and sat herself down on the grass. "You're no fun." she mumbled. Seriously? I was going to have to deal with _this_ the whole- however long her reaction lasted for? Forget it. I guess I'd just have to think back to when we were kids for the time being. Man, why did I have to be a sucker for Laksa? Oh well.

"Annabeth, breaking and entering can get us into very, _very_ bad trouble with the cops. You don't want to get into trouble and get a time out do you?" I said. It wouldn't exactly be a time out, but obviously Annabeth wasn't in the right mind set to come to that conclusion. She pouted for a few more seconds and glared at me. Sheesh, a part of me wondered if she was really like this as a kid sometimes. Oh what was I saying- uh, thinking? At least all kids were like this at some point in time, duh. Even me. I still remember my reaction when my Uncle Ferdinand took away my favourite toy because I did something bad.

"No." she grumbled. I sighed in relief. I wondered if Athena ever had to deal with this. "Okay. So you have to stick with me, you can't just go wondering off to break into some place. Got it?" I said. Annabeth glanced away, still pouting with her arms crossed. Then she sighed in defeat. "Fine." she grumbled. I sighed in relief. Thank gosh. Yep, no more spicy food for Annabeth.

**Tyson's POV** (The day before Ria and Percy leave.)

Clarisse and I stared at the door in shock at what had just happened. We had just been pushed through the wrong portal by a hell hound! One of Hades minions! This was not good. We didn't even know which door we went through. We could be anywhere in the world! Anywhere but Rome, where we were suppose to be. Clarisse walked up to the door. She grabbed the door knob and tried to open it. The key word being _tried_. "No." she said. She kept trying. "No. No, no, no! No! This isn't happening! No! No- no! This- this has to- this can't be happening! Come on! Open you stupid door! Open! No!" she shouted. Uh oh. I was stuck somewhere in the world that wasn't camp or Rome, with Clarisse who was failing to keep it cool. This was not good!

What was I suppose to do? How could I calm her down? I didn't know Clarisse. I had just met her. I had no idea what other people did to calm her down! If they ever did. She seemed like a tough girl most of the time. One that rarely needed someone's help in calming down. This just happened to be one of those rare times. But sadly I figured it was too late to say something stupid like "calm down," or "don't panic." So, instead I said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's okay, we'll fix this. It'll be alright." I said. Well, crap. I mentally slap myself in the face. That was probably just as stupid as the other two. Clarisse suddenly stops fiddling with the door knob, and gave me the coldest, most frightening glare I have ever received. "Okay? Alright?! How can you even say that! We're stuck somewhere that isn't Rome, or even camp! What if there isn't another portal here? What if this is the only one and the only way to access it is by waiting til dawn for it to open! And what about that Hell Hound? What does Hades think he's doing? Does it even belong to Hades?" she said. She then began to ramble on in a slight panic mode. I repeat, uh oh. There were only two ways of calming her down that came to mind. Both would probably get me killed by her. But one was much worse than the other, so I went with the second choice.

I punched her in the face, not hard mind you, but just enough to get her to stop talking and breath.

She instantly stopped just as I had thought she would. But the glare that I had thought would come afterwards, didn't come at all. She just kind of... stared at me. Maybe no one has punched her in the face before? Clarisse seemed to be a pretty good warrior, so she could have easily dodged it if she had been paying attention. So I guess it's possible that it's never happened before. But soon after there was an awkward silence. I regretted punching her and not doing what I had first planned. The first plan was to kiss her on the lips. The results would have been me getting beaten up. I would have gladly taken that over the awkward silence. It was deafening. I decided to try and break the silence.

"U-um, Clarisse? Uh..." I couldn't form a sentence though. There was this, weird feeling in the air. Along with the awkwardness of course. That was still there. I wondered what Clarisse was thinking... Although I had a pretty good idea. It was probably something along the lines of: "What the Hades just happened?" Well, it was either that, or she was trying to decide what was the best way to kill me. I awkwardly glanced away for a second. She wasn't saying anything. I couldn't figure out if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. But for the time being, I went with the second one. I cleared my throat. I hated this silence. I liked it better when she was speaking. Even if it were mostly insults towards my brother and I. It would be so much better than this!

Clarisse finally blinked and cleared her throat. "Um... We should uh, find out where we are yeah." she finally said. No more silence! I silently thanked the Gods for that. Clarisse walked past me and up the stairs at the end of the portal tunnel. I followed. What we saw next, didn't exactly bring us any good news. We peaked out of the trap door to the world above us. There was one lonely sign next to the door. It turned out we were in a field just outside the nearest town.

In China. The nearest town, being Beijing. This was most definitely NOT Rome, Italy. We quickly got out of the portal tunnel and looked around. Yep, we were in a field.

"AWE CRAP!" shouted Clarisse, breaking my train of thought. "China? Really! Well, I guess we either look for another portal, or wait for this one to reopen at dawn. Dammit, that means we'll loose a day."

"Wait. Beijing is twelve hours ahead of New York." I said, looking at the portal map. Apparently it changes your location as you travel. Cool. "Yeah? So? Oh, what are you going to do about your um, eye?" asked Clarisse. Oh yeah. Right. "Oh, right, I forgot that Chiron gave me this mist stuff to spray on it to blend in. But I wasn't going to use it until we arrived at our destination so it didn't get wasted." I said. Clarisse nodded. I couldn't tell if she was impressed, or just annoyed that we weren't in Rome. "I was also going to say that since Beijing is twelve hours ahead of New York, we don't have to wait til dawn. That is if the portals are set to New York's time. But it wouldn't hurt to try, then we'll only have to wait twelve hours, instead of twenty four." I explained.

Clarisse stared at me. Another awkward silence filled the air. If only I knew whether or not she was impressed or not! Man, I hate this. I almost wish I could have gone with someone else. But, I decided that if I go with her, I might be able to stop her from bullying my brother. And the others and I for that matter. Not being able to stand this silence, I broke it.

"So. What are you thinking right now?" I asked. Clarisse blinked out of her stupor.

"I was thinking that since we only get to have one day here in China- we should do some exploring." she said smoothly.

"Exploring, huh? I have always wanted to try _actual_ Chinese food." I commented. Clarisse smirked as I sprayed myself with the Mist, and we started heading towards the big city. This whole trip was going to be more interesting than I thought.

**A/N**: Uh oh, looks like Percy and Ria aren't off to a great start, Annabeth's acting nuts, and Clarisse and Tyson are in Beijing when they're suppose to be in Rome! What could happen next?

Well, there's chapter four! :)

R &amp; R please!

Come on, I know you want to. ;)

How about now?

...

Now?

...Now?


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